Production and drainage of aqueous humor in the cynomolgus monkey (Macaca irus).

The anterior chamber fluid in cynomolgus monkeys was replaced by a solution of albumin and diodone (iodopyracet) labeled with different isotopes of iodine. After 45 to 120 minutes the chamber fluid was collected and analyzed. The same type of experiment icas performed with albumin and my o glob in and with albumin and gamma globulin. In some of the experiments with albumin and myoglobin, the tissues of the eyes were also analyzed. The turnover rate constant for albumin in the anterior chamber was 0.021 minuteat a mean intraocular pressure of 13.8 mm. tig. The turnover rate constants for diodone, myoglobin, and gamma globulin, in the same order, were 1.31, 1.023, and 0.997 times that for albumin. In five 90 minute experiments, on an average, 25 per cent (range 12 to 36 per cent) of the labeled albumin that had left the anterior chamber was present in the intraocular tissues and the tissues fust outside the eye. For myoglobin the corresponding mean figure was 16 per cent. It is concluded that diodone leaves the anterior chamber both by flow and diffusion but that the proteins leave the anterior chamber essentially by bulk flow. Part of this takes place by way of unconventional routes through the anterior uvea, the suprachoroid, and the solera. The total volume of the anterior and posterior chambers was on an average 123 id and the rate of flow of aqueous humor into the anterior chamber was about 1 to 2 id per minute.